At a time Gov. Rick Perry has considerably stepped up his travel schedule, the Texas Legislature on Tuesday amended a school finance bill to keep the details of the cost of his security team secret for 18 months.

At Perry’s urging, lawmakers inserted language into SB1 that will keep the details of travel vouchers submitted by his Department of Public Safety security team secret for 18 months after trips are completed. Both the Texas House and Senate passed the bill Tuesday.

Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, said the conference committee agreed to language that provides “a more balanced approach” than legislation during the regular session that would have kept records permanently out of public view.

State secret: You are not entitled to know how much you are paying for Rick Perry's security detail. (AP photo)

The governor has argued that allowing public scrutiny of the travel expenses of his security team would compromise his safety.

“I think that this is a reasonable way to try to solve the concerns that DPS has about being able to protect its operational strategies for protecting the governor and other elected officials yet provide transparency,” said Duncan.

Duncan said the legislation would apply only to travel expenses incurred after the effective date of the bill, noting a lawsuit is pending on the issue. The Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News and the Austin American Statesman filed suit in 2007 to obtain the details of travel vouchers of the security detail. Two lower courts agreed with the newspapers that the information should be a matter of public record, but Perry appealed those decisions to the Texas Supreme Court, where it is pending.

Democrats opposed the provision.

“It seems to be driven more by interest in the presidential election than in the public interest,” said Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth. “Why would we accept the notion that we should cover this information up when the public has a right to know how much he is spending traveling around the country?”